Migrants Sent To Remote African Nation Will Be Indefinitely Held In Solitary Confinement, Its Govt. Says

The government of Eswatini, the African country that received five deportees from the United States this week, said the people will be kept in solitary confinement for an indefinite amount of time.

Government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli declined to say where the five men will be kept due to security concerns. Speaking to The Associated Press, he said the government plans to ultimately repatriate the men but it is not clear how long it will take it to do so.

The migrants—citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen, and Laos—had served prison sentences in the U.S. for serious crimes, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin described the men as "individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back."

Mdluli said earlier this week that the government, together with the U.S. and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), would "facilitate the transit of these inmates to their countries of origin."

However, the IOM said it was not involved in the deportation and had not been asked to assist, as The New York TImes points out. Mdluli's comments were also shared through the government's official X account:

The original move had drawn criticism from political opposition in Eswatini. Mphandlana Shongwe of the People's United Democratic Movement told Africa News that he condemned "the bringing of hardcore convicts to our country to mix with our young convicts who still have a chance to be rehabilitated." Prince Bailey of the Swaziland United Democratic Front said the deportations made Eswatini look like "a dumping site."

Lioness Sibande, secretary general of the Swaziland Peoples Liberation Movement, also condemned the transfer, calling it part of a broader pattern of Western exploitation. "The West is always disrespecting us as Africans and thinking we are their dumpsite," she said.

The Trump administration has pursued third-country deportations as part of its broader immigration enforcement efforts, including recent removals to South Sudan, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Panama.

The Intercept reported earlier this month that the men deported to South Sudan were deceived by immigration enforcement officials, being told they were being sent on a short trip from Texas to Louisiana rather than their actual destination when first taken out of the country, according to a new report.

The outlet noted that the episode took place in May, when the group was taken to Djibouti. They were kept there for weeks, shackled and held in shipping containers. They are now in South Sudan.